You know who is missing from that list? The guy that
actually deserves the most blame. And the guy that needs to be sent on his way –
head coach Mike Shanahan.

He is now in his fourth year with the team and his record is
22-32, that would be a winning percentage of just over .400. Great for a
baseball hitter, terrible for a football coach. He has made the playoffs once
in his last six as a head coach and that will likely become 1 in 7 when 2013 is
complete.

Yet, somehow, Shanahan has gotten a pass. The focus has all
been on RG3.

While the talk throughout the offseason centered on the rehabilitative
powers of Robert Griffin III, the team did nothing to make his life easier.
Look at the team’s skill players and beyond Alfred Morris, it is probably the
worst collection of wide receivers and tight ends in the league.

The 49ers lost in the Super Bowl last year, they added
Anquan Boldin. The Broncos lost in the Divisional Round, they added Wes Welker.
The Colts lost in the Wild Card Round, they added Trent Richardson during the season after sensing a need in the running game.

Washington, after coming off an amazing season in which they
discovered their franchise quarterback and running back for the next decade,
added…nothing.

Somehow, this is RG3’s fault.

For the opening Monday Night game, the team was absolutely
annihilated by Chip Kelly and the Eagles. Even now, quotes from London Fletcher
and other players indicate that they were the “guinea pigs” for Chip Kelly’s
offense.

Huh? Did they not have access to Oregon film? Is the
hurry-up offense – one that the Patriots have been exploiting for years –
really that different?

No, the team was woefully unprepared. The coach needs to be
blamed.

Against the Packers, Washington was helpless…as in HELPLESS…to
stop Aaron Rodgers. The game was over by halftime. Defensive coordinator Jim
Haslett deserved the blame.

Against the Cowboys, Washington was helpless…as in HELPLESS…to
move the ball against a team that had given up 51 points the week before. RG3
ran the ball more, hopefully to shut up that portion of the critics, and it
didn’t help. Why? Because guys weren’t open, the playcalling was atrocious and
receivers such as Leonard Hankerson love to drop the ball. Offensive
coordinator Kyle Shanahan deserves blame.

But what about the guy in charge?

Here’s the truth about Mike Shanahan – he’s old, out of touch
and everything that is wrong with football coaches. He’s stubborn. He hires his
buddies and his son. The coaching staff acted as if they were geniuses for how
they used RG3 a year ago, ignoring the facts that the “option” has been around as
long as football itself and that RG3 thrived in college as a pocket passer.

With option plays limited due to RG3’s recovery, it exposed
the Shanahan clan as archaic when it comes to offensive football. They have
nothing to give anymore, unless you like incomplete passes and a QB running for
his life after yet another unaccounted for pass rusher takes dead aim at him.

Washington stunk in 2010. Washington stunk in
2011.Washington stunk in 2012 until RG3 rescued them. And Washington stinks in
2013.

But the absolute worst part of the ongoing fiasco is
Shanahan refusing to defend his quarterback – also known as the guy who has
saved his job. Without RG3, Shanahan would be getting all the blame. Without
RG3, Shanahan would be long gone.

There are more Google searches for “RG3” or “Robert Griffin
III” in an hour than there are for Mike Shanahan in a month. You get noticed by
calling out the face of the franchise. You don’t get noticed for calling out
the head coach.

And Shanahan has gladly played along. Where is his soundbite
defending his quarterback? Where is Shanahan taking the blame and responsibility?
His team has been unprepared in EVERY SINGLE GAME this season. They have been
down at the half every time. Even the Raiders were up 14-0.

These are coaching problems. When your teams loses the first
half every single week, there is a fundamental problem with coaching. Yeah,
maybe they should all be gone, but the head coach needs to bear the brunt of
this responsibility.

This week, the special teams coach will be aimed at by the
firing squad. Bob Costas, with his commentary on the name situation*, will
further remove heat from Shanahan. At some point, the coach needs to answer for
his shortcomings. But no one in the media – local, national or otherwise – has
decided to take him to task yet.

If no one else will do it, then I will.

Mike Shanahan should be fired. He is ruining RG3. He is
further ruining a franchise that, with the glorious exception of RG3, has been
the football equivalent of a raging dumpster fire for the past decade.

I don’t know if anyone can save the team from itself and Dan
Snyder. I just know that Mike Shanahan can’t.